I was at the game with the family. The boys' first Canucks game with the green and blue tinsel wigs, face tattoos and all. Safe to say they came away happy campers.

The first period looked like a lot of periods the Canucks played recently - had some bad puck luck, made some bad decisions and the opposition opened the scoring. I didn't catch Torts giving it to Hansen on the 1st goal, but I would chalk it up to lazy back-checking. Having said that Mcarthur's shot would have been tough to beat.

It looked like it was going to be another one of those nights when Burrows missed the net on a beauty set up from the twins early in the first, followed up by Booth having another beauty feed in the slot hop over his stick.0

Speaking of Booth, great to see him get a sweet goal to out the team in the lead. A lot of the goals in the second seemed to come from the mid-slot area. Anderson was not in top form but the Senators gave up that slot area waaaay too easy. You just don't see that happen much in the western conference.

Luongo played solid and made 'those saves' he and Torts talked about him not making last game. Zibanejad's goal was just good skill on his part, Bieksa missing his check, and bad luck for Luongo. He is going to be icing his left collar bone after the shots he took in that area.

Sestito justified his spot on the roster tonight. He got in on the forecheck and made some good things happen there. Taking on Neal after he rammed Tanev (I think it was him) into the boards. That's his job and IMO he acquitted himself well. To see him and Hansen on a 2-on-1 had me wondering if I was in bizarro world - then I realized they were playing an eastern conference team. Still amounted to nothing but a save for Anderson, but it was a novel thing to see.

Kassian.... Kassian... I think I saw him out there sometimes. Meh...

Either Kesler is in a funk or injuries have taken their toll on his speed. He still hounds the puck-carrier but just seems half a step slower than I remember seeing him. This guy needs a quality linemate if he's going to play centre and regain his career form. Who knows who that will be. Not that he played bad, and it looks like he's trying hard out there but you just see him out there and leave wanting more.

All in all though, 'twas a good win - even though Anderson made them look good to an extent - and just what the doctor ordered after the last game. Hopefully they came out of tonight with more confidence in the system and themselves.

BTW - as per usual lately, the arena was almost half Canucks fans. Canucks Nation was well-represented. A couple of tards in our section got a little rowdy (by lower 100s standards that is) but nothing near as bad as some of the bile and drivel you hear about at CalPuke. It's almost like a home away from home.

Hansen failed to back check and just coasted back into his zone giving McCarther a free shot on Luongo. He scores and Hansen goes to the bench. torts just ripped into him and was jabbing him pretty hard with his finger. Was really in his face. Hansen of course could only sit there looking embarrassed. Maddest I've seen Torts on the bench and the most animated towards one of his players.

Strangelove wrote:Booth may have gotten a coupla points tonight but he's still a dummy.

Hits Kesler in the back with a clearing attempt and it ends up in our net.

Am I the only one who noticed Kesler was hurting badly that shift, needing to get off.

But no, it turns into a looong shift hemmed in their own zone.

Then Kassian has a great chance to finally clear and fucks it up.

Then Booth.

That shift was painful to watch, as everybody was running around after multiple fucked-up tries to clear it out. You could sense that it was a shift that that would lead nowhere good at all.

Thing is, you could have counted the amount of bone-headed shifts on the Canucks' part in this game on one hand and have a finger or two left over. Hopefully Booth's confidence starts to come back and takes his play with it. A guy HAS to hope. I'll leave the praying to Booth.

Neil hit Stanton. Stanton let the puck go around the boards and as Neil lined him up he lost an edge. Neil's knee got him in the face and cut him. Somehow Neil only got two for interference even though there was some a blood a coming. Stanton's face has taken a beating this past week.

Someone else nailed Tanev on a clean hit but just rocked him, that Zanibad guy, or however you spell his name.

For sure Anderson was bad. A lot of our shots we couldn't score on before and didn't have a hot goalie getting to them.

Ya on that shift Kesler blocked a shot just before the cluster fuck and couldn't get off the ice. Then both Kassian and Booth had great chances to clear the puck and didn't. The good news is we were up by three at the time. Past games that would have been the tying goal

Strangelove wrote:Booth may have gotten a coupla points tonight but he's still a dummy.

Hits Kesler in the back with a clearing attempt and it ends up in our net.

Am I the only one who noticed Kesler was hurting badly that shift, needing to get off.

But no, it turns into a looong shift hemmed in their own zone.

Then Kassian has a great chance to finally clear and fucks it up.

Then Booth.

That shift was painful to watch, as everybody was running around after multiple fucked-up tries to clear it out. You could sense that it was a shift that that would lead nowhere good at all.

Thing is, you could have counted the amount of bone-headed shifts on the Canucks' part in this game on one hand and have a finger or two left over. Hopefully Booth's confidence starts to come back and takes his play with it. A guy HAS to hope. I'll leave the praying to Booth.

Someone else nailed Tanev on a clean hit but just rocked him, that Zanibad guy, or however you spell his name.

Yeah Tanev seems to get blasted a lot, another reason why he should be traded asap before he gets seriously injured and his value diminishes, this is on top of his tough negotiating for his contract which is coming up this offseason.

My homie Sestito with one of his better fights vs Neil.

A long time ago, a baseball player remarked: "If I owned a ballclub, I'd hire a $5,000 coach and a $15,000 scout."

Someone else nailed Tanev on a clean hit but just rocked him, that Zanibad guy, or however you spell his name.

Yeah Tanev seems to get blasted a lot, another reason why he should be traded asap before he gets seriously injured and his value diminishes, this is on top of his tough negotiating for his contract which is coming up this offseason.

I dunno, I thought it was a bit unfair. The guy was like 5 strides ahead of Hansen. There's no way Hansen would of caught that guy. The D should cover that guy anyways, Hansen's job as a forward is more to cover the trailers and point men. Boothy was casually backchecking the guy on the right side as well. Only difference Booth was skating a bit, while Hansen was coasting.

Yeah, maybe it was just to single someone out and make an example out of Hansen to get the boys going. It worked I guess, but not sure it was really fair on Janick. He's like consistently one of our hardest working guys day in and day out.

Lancer wrote:
BTW - as per usual lately, the arena was almost half Canucks fans. Canucks Nation was well-represented. A couple of tards in our section got a little rowdy (by lower 100s standards that is) but nothing near as bad as some of the bile and drivel you hear about at CalPuke. It's almost like a home away from home.

Good to hear.
I suppose with the Sens on the downslide that tickets there are a little easier to come by.

Now we just need four points this weekend from the Eastern conference bottom feeders.

I dunno, I thought it was a bit unfair. The guy was like 5 strides ahead of Hansen. There's no way Hansen would of caught that guy. The D should cover that guy anyways, Hansen's job as a forward is more to cover the trailers and point men. Boothy was casually backchecking the guy on the right side as well. Only difference Booth was skating a bit, while Hansen was coasting.

Yeah, maybe it was just to single someone out and make an example out of Hansen to get the boys going. It worked I guess, but not sure it was really fair on Janick. He's like consistently one of our hardest working guys day in and day out.

The way Torts was pointing around the ice I get the impression he was pissed off with what Hansen was doing BEFORE we saw him coasting back from center ice. If Hansen had shown his usual hustle he might have been closer to MacArthur and forced him to rush the shot a bit rather than have that much time.

In general I think Torts is only going to yell at the players who he knows are mailing it in, if he think a player doesn't actually have what he's looking for they'll be nothing said and the guy will just get benched.

Methot. Can anyone name another Ottawa defenseman? Karlson you say, no he doesn't defend.

Anderson was bad, but his defence was far worse. Was there anyone near Santorelli on his goal? Canucks fourth goal, the Canuck player in front of the net caught the butt end of Anderson's stick and used it as a lever to turn the goalie. Anderson rightly had a beef, but that is a very rare call that seen Luongo be on the wrong side off many time. The Blackhawks forewards must practice it. That said, Anderson's flail for a call 17 seconds later was embarrassing.

Luongo deserved more shit than Jannick for that 1st goal. There was no reason to cheat, the pass wasn't there. Like Garrison misplaying the 2 on 1 last game, Luongo's responsibility is the shooter.

For a team that plays a safe up the boards and out clear, when they screw up, it certainly is noticeable.

I noted a few games ago that the down low cycle was opening up the slot and last night it was exploited. Didn't hurt that the Ottawa wingers were slow off the boards to cover.

Doc, I too saw Kesler hurt when he blocked the shot. Garrett and Shorthouse were too busy with their game of trivial pursuit to notice.

If Tanev could add offence to his game, Hamhuis becomes expendable next year.

It's funny how RD is MIA when Booth, Garrison, and Santorelli scored...

As for the game, it was not one of the best games by the Canucks. Defensively, they were not great. The Canucks just capitalized on Anderson rather than facing a hot goalie... Playing on the road certainly helps them to regain their confidence.